NEWSLETTER June 2008

The

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Newsletter of the Atlanta Alliance on Developmental Disabilities

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Our mission

is to build

communities of

support, acceptance,

and opportunity for

children, adults,

and families living with developmental

disabilities

Issue 46 June 2008

(Click on title below to go directly to article.)

1. Save the Date! Legacy 2008 is October 23
2. Dr. Zolinda Stoneman, 2008 Heart of Gold Recipient
3. Annual Day at the Lake
4. The Brainchild was Born and the Village is "Raising" it
5. Apply for Partners in Policymaking 2008-2009
6. Activities Connection

1. Save the Date! Legacy 2008 is October 23

From left to right, AADD Advisory Board Member Whitney Moister, Coach Vince Dooley, and AADD Executive Director Mary Yoder.

Whitney and Peter Moister, Legacy 2008 Co Chairs, are “thrilled to announce Barbara and Vince Dooley as Honorary Chairs of Legacy, 2008. This is a wonderful match-up between our mission and the interests of two renowned Georgians who care deeply about developmental and other disabilities. For AADD, having the Dooleys involved certifies in a unique and special way the organization’s work as a statewide leader in advocacy,” said Whitney Moister, who is also a charter member of AADD’s Advisory Board.

“AADD is fortunate to have always had strong leadership for our annual Legacy awareness building and fundraising event,” said AADD Executive Director Mary Yoder, who met recently with Barbara and Vince Dooley. “We are especially fortunate this year to have the Moisters on board, as well as the Dooleys, in leadership positions. We will all work together to create an exciting and memorable event,” she added.

Legacy 2008, to be held October 23 at the Atlanta History Center, represents AADD’s most significant awareness building and fundraising event of the year. The Moisters have created a host committee whose members will be inviting friends and associates to learn more about AADD. Members of the host committee include: Valerie and Cotten Alston, Ginny and Charles Brewer, Sara and Chuck Clay, Darlene and Chip Conrad, Marianne and Frank Craft, Mandy and Knox Culpepper, Lee and Bill Espy, Anne and Berny Gray, Louise Staton Gunn, Jane and Clay Jackson, Sarah and Jim Kennedy, Courtney and Charlie Loudermilk, Tara Mosley, Michael Rickman, Danielle and Glen Rollins, Jan and Chris Schroder, Harriet and Charlie Shaffer, Sara and John Shlesinger, and Jane and Jim Sibley.

If you are interested in learning more about the organization, introducing potential donors to AADD, or making a donation in support of AADD and Legacy 2008, please contact Carey Sipp at carey@aadd.org, or 404-881-9777 ext. 228.

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2. Dr. Zolinda Stoneman, 2008 Heart of Gold Recipient

Dr. Zolinda Stoneman (center), recipient of the 2008 Heart of Gold Award, is shown with Dr. Lesa Hope (left) and Mary Yoder, CAE (right), of AADD.

Praised as a “quiet pioneer – a gentle revolutionary – who has created earth-shattering improvements in the lives of persons with disabilities and their families,”
Dr. Zolinda Stoneman received AADD’s highest honor – the annual Heart of Gold Award.

Dr. Stoneman, director of the Institute on Human Development and Disability College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia, received the award at AADD’s annual Heart of Gold awards event on May 8.

Jocelyn Dorsey, public affairs and editorial director for WSB TV, hosted the event and posed for pictures with some of the 200 supporters in attendance. To see a scrapbook of photos taken at the awards event, click here.

In giving the award, Mary Yoder, AADD executive director, said of Dr. Stoneman, “Her low-key, gentle, and determined approach to research on issues affecting people with developmental disabilities has had, and continues to have, a positive and revolutionary impact on laws, public policy, and public perception of people with developmental disabilities. Her decades of work devoted to keeping families together, ending institutionalization, and sharing a vision of fully inclusive communities, have forever changed life for families living with developmental disabilities.”

In addition to Dr. Stoneman, 11 other honorees received awards for outstanding service. They included Elizabeth Parra Dang, MPH, Thomas J. Asher Award; Chip Conrad, Jocelyn Dorsey Community Philanthropy Award; Karen Barineau, Educator of the Year Award; Jarrett Banks, Kroger Company, Employee of the Year Award; Thomas Byrd, Kroger Company, Employer of the Year Award; Kathy Jenkins, Worktec Program at Fort McPherson, Employer of the Year Award; Dottie Adams, Tom Graf Award; David Saville, Outstanding Personal Achievement Award; David Zilles, Tommy Nobis Award; and Senator Dan Moody, the Bobby Rowan Advocacy Award.

Betty Dent, a 29-year AADD employee, was the first person to win the Community Builder Award. This award recognizes an AADD employee nominated by AADD board members, employees, community members, and/or persons who receive support from AADD, for outstanding and dedicated service.

Presenting sponsors for the event included WSB-TV and Park’n Fly. The Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities was a Gold Sponsor. Silver sponsors included Tom and Spring Asher, Mary and Tim Yoder, the Bobby Dodd Institute, and Sugar Pine Beauty. Bronze sponsors were Lana Copeland Hardy, Barbara and Jim Kirk, Laurin McSwain, Whitney and Peter Moister, Club Z! In-Home Tutoring Services, the State Independent Living Council of Georgia, and the Wilson Family.

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3 . Annual Day at the Lake

The annual Day at the Lake is scheduled for June 22 from 2 – 6 p.m. at Lake Lanier. This is an opportunity for families living with developmental disabilities to enjoy a picnic, cool off at the lake, and socialize. Attendees must have a reservation, and a release form must be signed by each guest and/or his or her guardian.

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4. The Brainchild was Born and the Village is "Raising" it

Often the children of moms with developmental disabilities enter the public school world with disadvantages – economic, social, and educational. Although AADD cannot address all of these issues, the Family Literacy Project seeks to address the disadvantage caused by lack of educational experiences that leave children struggling to catch up to their peers.

AADD Board member Dr. Paul Alberto of Georgia State University, along with Dr. Lesa Hope, director of AADD’s Community Services Division, and Dr. Kai Stewart, AADD’s director of Clinical and Social Services, planned out a possible 6-week program that would train mothers with developmental disabilities to use books as an educational tool in their homes.

Sandy Foxworth, AADD board member and a retired special education teacher, recruited four other special education teachers to implement the project. Riki Bolster, manager of AADD’s Information, Referral, & Resource department, has taken a lead role as the coordinator of the project for AADD. The Family Literacy Project officially began with a training of the volunteers and Outreach Specialists on May 6 by Literacy Volunteers of America.

The collaborative effort was far-reaching: Literacy Volunteers of America, Georgia State University, AADD board members and staff, volunteer special education teachers, AADD outreach specialists, and the moms and their children were all necessary to pilot the Family Literacy Project.

"The project has had many other benefits," Dr. Hope said. "We discovered that many of the moms had skills we did not anticipate. The modeling of learning techniques that can be implemented by the moms has been invaluable, but so has the modeling of parenting techniques by the volunteers with the children. You can see the confidence of the moms growing with each succeeding week."

The project began with a pre-evaluation of skills and will end with a post-evaluation that Georgia State University hopes to be able to use in further research and requests for grant money. If you are interested in helping to support the Family Literacy Project, please contact Riki Bolster at 404-881-9777 ext. 223, or write to her at or riki@aadd.org.

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5. Apply for Partners in Policymaking 2008-2009

Partners in Policymaking is an innovative leadership training opportunity designed to involve and empower people with developmental disabilities, parents of young children with disabilities, and other family members. The Partners program is the most comprehensive educational program on disability issues in Georgia.

How You Will Benefit
Understand best practices
Connect with national experts
Network with other advocates
Be a part of creating positive change

What the Classes Cover:
Community Organizing
Inclusive Education
State/Federal Government
Employment
Housing
History of Disability
Community Building

Who Should apply:

Dorothea Cadet, Partners in Policymaking class of 2008, speaking at the Partners graduation.

People with developmental disabilities, parents of children with developmental disabilities, and family members are the primary target groups of the Partners program. We are looking for individuals who are seriously interested in developing their advocacy skills for the benefit of strengthening their families and being a part of local and statewide advocacy efforts.

For more information or to apply online, follow this link. To request a hard copy of the application or to schedule a phone interview to assist in completing the application, contact Rita Young, AADD advocacy & training manager, at 404-881-9777 x 220 or rita@aadd.org.

The deadline for applications is July 7, 2008.

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